Psalm 119:33-40
33] Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end. 34] Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 35] Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 36] Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. 37] Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. 38] Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. 39] Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. 40] See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.
Matthew 5:38-48
38] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39] But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40] and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41] and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42] Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
43] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45] so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47] And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Spoken Words for Whose Turn Is It?
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, Oh God, our strength and our Redeemer. This text from Matthew is one of those Bible passages in which the old words get in the way of our understanding it today. There are verses that sound like a lesson, such as “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” and “if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?” The examples Jesus uses to make his point are not the same circumstances we envision today. The translated words can point us in a direction that is not what was intended by Jesus, I think.
We may focus on the words about being struck on the cheek and to turn the other one. To us, these words imply and evoke images of violence. We may say the point Jesus was making is to be submissive and take whatever physical harm another person perpetrates on us. No, he wasn’t. To an audience in Jesus’ time, to strike the cheek was seen as an insult, not as an act that would cause injury. No one in Jesus’ audience would have thought he meant for anyone to be passive in the face of a beating. It was seen as an insult that did not need any retaliation. Jesus’ point was to not take offense at insulting actions; it was to turn away from the need to return the insult.
We may focus on the words about an eye for an eye, and think, Oooh, Jesus must have been referring to a time in which all that revenge and honor killing started. He must have been criticizing those old laws. No, he wasn’t. What we generally don’t hear is that the original verses from Exodus about an eye for an eye were speaking out against acts of revenge and escalation of violence. The original verses were specifying penalties for people involved in brawls or public fights. If the fight caused damage, the penalty was limited to the damage caused; no penalty could exceed the damage. Jesus’ audience understood that obedience to the actual words would result in suffering and oppression for those one is charged to love and protect. His point was to turn his followers toward love when they faced hate.
We hear the words “if anyone wants to sue you for your coat, give him your cloak too”, and we think Oooh, I must give all I have or give until it hurts. No, he wasn’t saying that here. To Jesus’ audience, this would be like giving up all your clothes so that you would be naked on the spot, in the public square. That kind of humiliation was not sought. His point was for us to learn to give from a deeper level of what we have, to give in a way that changes our budget. To give up something we want, not something we need to live, so that others have what they need. The point is to turn from self-interest to a greater concern for the interest of others.
We hear the words “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go a second mile”, and we think this means do more than was asked of us, be extra nice. To Jesus’ audience, there was a focus we don’t see. The person doing the asking was a Roman soldier, who had the right to ask a Jew to carry bags for him. If the Jew carried the bags for more than that law specified, it saved another Jew from the labor. The focus is on one person giving up self-interest to ensure the rights of another person. One person turns to concern for sparing another from labor.
We might decide that Jesus’ lesson is to humiliate or shame the evildoers into realizing what they have done, and thereby gaining a victory by making that person look bad. No, it wasn’t. The focus is not on shaming anyone, but on us deciding to be concerned about the rights and welfare of others, in a way that is more than the law asks of us.
Having explained the examples of eyes, cheeks, cloaks and miles, I think a current example says it better. Children in a third grade class were showing classmates how to Be Brave and to stand up for someone else. In this video on You Tube, two boys approach another smaller boy, knocking his book to the floor and pushing him. A fourth boy walks in between the boys and puts his hand up in a stop gesture and clearly says stop. He then picks up the fallen book, hands it to the smaller boy and walks off with him. The boy who got involved comes back into the frame holding a sign that says “stand up for someone”.
It was a moving video. It was empowering, even to adults. The video can be seen by typing in Be Brave Wheelock. This seems to me a much more understandable way to show exaggerated self-interest, a way to promote the rights of others. One boy briefly stood between 2 boys and a smaller one, and recognized the right of all children to pass freely in that hall way. We don’t see any follow up behavior by the bigger boys, no teachers or parents getting involved. No lecturing, no visits to the principal’s office, no making an example of the behavior. We do see a reinforcing message in the sign “stand up for someone”.
The boy made a decision to turn toward the boy who needed help. He could have turned away from the situation and kept walking. Jesus is asking his audience to turn away from revenge, to turn away from violence. Matthew Myer Bolton said of this passage, “Do not fight fire with fire, Jesus says; rather, fight fire with water, and thereby refuse to take part in the incendiary, all-too familiar work of injury and domination.”
We now turn to the second group of verses from today’s Gospel reading. These are the verses about loving your neighbor and praying for your enemy. Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy”. If he was speaking about Leviticus 19:18, we see the “love your neighbor “part, but not a “hate your enemy” part. No specific verse is cited. The implication is that it is understandable for one to hate one’s enemy, and no law is needed to state this. Or that during this sermon of Jesus, Jewish leaders were present, who did counsel hate for enemies, and this was Jesus’ way of drawing attention to the fact that hate was not written into the Law.
Regardless of the source, the contrast to this is Jesus saying “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. He goes on to show that God loves the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous. These labels are meant to apply to all people, of all nations, not only to the Jews.
Jesus says they should love their enemies because God loves all of us. The line about “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” shows an all-inclusive love. The sun and the rain cause food to grow, which feeds people, allowing them to live. God allows all to have the sun and rain.
Matthew ends this chapter 5 with the verse “Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The perfection Jesus speaks of is God’s mercy and lovingkindness. Jesus was teaching that to be visible children of God, visible followers of God to others, be as merciful and loving as God is, by loving your enemies.
The lesson continues in the psalm for today. The writer of the psalm asks to be taught the statutes or laws, of God. The word turn is used 3 times. Turn my heart to your decrees, turn my eyes from looking at vanities and turn away the disgrace that I dread. Again, turn toward God and not toward selfish gain. See the interest and needs of others.
How wonderful is a God who can transform us and turn us toward others and away from only our own needs. How wonderful are the words that get us thinking that way, words from so many years ago. Even if the passage of time, the differences in history, lifestyle and language almost obscure the message, God manages to deliver it. He delivers it through the teachings of Jesus, whose words were repeated, written down, translated, read and spoken to us today. We have the help of children in the Be Brave Wheelock video on You Tube to hear that message. That message is turn to God. Turn toward love for your enemies. Turn from looking at ourselves to standing up for someone else. Which of these turns will we face next? I pray that we may know what to do when it is our turn to act with love and not with hate. May it be so.
© 2017 Reverend Kelly Ann Donahue. All rights reserved.